


Left Behind

by hellosweetie17



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cinematic Records, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Lost Love, M/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-02 22:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10954422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellosweetie17/pseuds/hellosweetie17
Summary: During their three goodbyes, William dies twice.





	Left Behind

William gazed down at the prone form of the lover he knew from a life long passed, who was now someone he didn't know at all. Using his death scythe, the Dispatch Supervisor cut into the chest of the fallen Shinigami and released his records. He closely studied them as they swiftly whizzed by, his usually tidy brown hair and immaculate suit blowing about in their wake. But in spite of the reels moving with supernatural speed, time slowed down for the brunet reaper.

They were humans inseparable; Ronald Knox and William T. Spears.

The two were sitting outside on a park bench, laughing at something a once jovial William must have said to the young blond with two-toned hair he secretly adored.

Before he knew it, and just for a moment, William was reliving their first kiss and the first declaration of love.

Beneath his black gloves, the brunet’s hands tingled. As he watched, he could feel the remnants of Ronald’s silky hair brush against his fingers as he slid them through the dark tresses at the back of his neck. Will rubbed his thumb across the smooth, smiling lips of his former lover. He lowered his mouth and pressed a kiss against the other’s, a grin of his own appearing when they finally parted. And that's when he heard the blond speak, ever so softly.

“I love you, William.”

The memory of Ronald’s whispered declaration loudly echoed in his ears; they began to ring as tears began to fall.

Another frame showed him a room flickering with the light of the dying embers in a fireplace. Their skin was glimmering with the cooling sheen of perspiration brought on by a night of passion. Ronald was staring at him, gently tucking back the damp strands of brown hair behind his ear. William could see his bright, blue eyes as clear as day.

Grinning, his companion leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss against his lips. “I love you, William.”

The brunet reaper was the first of the two to say goodbye in their previous lives when a terrible self-inflicted accident claimed his own.

Unshed tears blurred his vision as he observed the days move slowly for the one who was left behind. The young man began to degrade, swallowing his pain whole as he drowned in a bottle of scotch; one right after the other. Life chipped away at him, until one day, Knox decided he would find peace by means of a rope.

Then, through the other’s eyes, William blinked awake. A pair of glasses were slid onto his face and he saw himself standing above the newest Shinigami in reaper London. He could see the relief and astonishment cascading along his face as he stared at himself through the eyes that were once blue, now yellow-green. Spears remembered the smile that twitched at the corner of his lips at being reunited with the one he’d been waited years for.

“Who are you?”

The question seared every fiber of his being. William’s heart decayed and what little was left of him disappeared, leaving nothing behind but ice and stone.

After decades of enduring the gut wrenching agony of watching the young man he once loved—who didn't remember him, but somehow hated him—flirt and dance around the women who so happened to stumble in his path, it was once again time to say goodbye.

This time, he was the first to go.

Once the records were collected, the Dispatch Supervisor retracted the pruning shear.

"Ronald Knox," stated William, stamping 'Forgiven' next to his name and picture.

With a final look at the boy’s picture in the Death Book, he snapped it shut and tucked in beneath his arm.

“I love you, William.”

**Author's Note:**

> We know that the Shinigami are neutral and don't pass judgment, but for the sake of feels...


End file.
